Rotten Tomatoes Explains Why Over 50,000 Captain Marvel Reviews Were Deleted
John F. Trent
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Rotten Tomatoes explained that the reason why over 50,000 Captain Marvel reviews were deleted was due to a “bug.”
In a statement released to The Hollywood Reporter, Rotten Tomatoes explains why the Captain Marvel reviews were deleted:
“We launched some changes to the movie pre-release functionality last week, which included not allowing users to leave a comment or review prior to a movie’s release in theatres. However, we still invite users to vote if they ‘want to see’ a movie prior to its release, and that vote total is displayed on the site.”
They added:
“We have identified a bug in the post-release functionality for the movies that have released into theaters since our product update last week. The quantity of user ratings (which is displayed directly below the audience score and is intended to only include the quantity of users who have left a rating or written review after a movie’s release) had included both pre-release and post-release fan voting.”
This explanation contradicts Rotten Tomatoes’ notice of how they were updating and radically altering their website’s functionality.
In a blog post they explained how they were changing the website’s design. They specifically noted their “Want to See” score was different from the “Audience Score.”
“Starting this week, Rotten Tomatoes will launch the first of several phases of updates that will refresh and modernize our Audience Rating System. We’re doing it to more accurately and authentically represent the voice of fans, while protecting our data and public forums from bad actors.
As of February 25, we will no longer show the ‘Want to See’ percentage score for a movie during its pre-release period. Why you might ask? We’ve found that the ‘Want to See’ percentage score is often times confused with the ‘Audience Score’ percentage number. (The ‘Audience Score’ percentage, for those who haven’t been following, is the percentage of all users who have rated the movie or TV show positively – that is, given it a star rating of 3.5 or higher – and is only shown once the movie or TV show is released.)”
A number of media and entertainment websites had been targeting Marvel fans because they were using Rotten Tomatoes’ “Want to See” score to indicate they were not planning on seeing Captain Marvel. Not only were these websites falsely claiming Marvel fans were “review bombing” Captain Marvel before you could even write reviews, but they labeled Marvel fans as “sexist trolls.”
Rotten Tomatoes only announced their changes following the onslaught of these articles.
What do you make of Rotten Tomatoes explanation for the deletion of over 50,000 Captain Marvel reviews? Do you believe them? Or do you think they might be trying to give cover to all of the media outlets who are attacking moviegoers that use their website?
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